Last year’s Cine Gear was where we first got acquainted with Panasonic’s fledgling EVA1 camera, so it’s only fitting that we follow up with them again to see how far the EVA1 has come. Between the recent 2.5 firmware update and the newly announced EVA1 film contest, we had a lot to talk about with Panasonic’s Mitch Gross at Cine Gear 2018.

Just barely two months after the previous update, Panasonic’s commitment to keeping the EVA1 fresh led to the recent release of the 2.5 firmware. Adding SMOOTH Mode noise reduction, more lens compatibility options and more:

New Features

Improvement to the noise in low light conditions “SMOOTH”, which has more NR effect, is added to the Noise Reduction (NR) menu. Also, the menu name is changed from “NR” to “NOISE REDUCTION”.

Additional compatible lenses:

Canon CN-E lens: ONE PUSH AF operation verified

Other verified lenses

Canon

EF 24-105mm F4L IS Ⅱ USM

EF-S 17-55mm F2.8 IS USM

SP 35mm F/1.8 Di VC USD

SP 90mm F/2.8 Di MACRO 1:1 VC USD TAMRON

Default setting of FOCUS EXPAND MODE is changed from “HOLD” to “10SEC”. (To prevent users from falsely believing that their cameras are malfunctioning while they are simply in the EXPAND mode)

Improvement in COLOR SETTING menu display It is improved so that not only SCENE FILE numbers but also SCENE FILE names are displayed.

A particular lens may not have its IRIS working at high-speed fps settings. This problem is fixed.

EVA1 Share Your Vision Video Contest

The EVA1 “Share Your Vision” video contest has also launched, offering $6,000 as a grand prize. The submission deadline is August 24th, 2018, with Fiction and Non-Fiction categories to submit to. The judges (who include Matthias Bolliger, William Wages, ASC, Elle Schneider, and Johnny Derango) will select one winner from each category. Winners will be announced September 14th through the 18th during IBC 2018 and published across Varicam/EVA1 YouTube channel and social media accounts. The submission process is simple: